mples.

[21] It is otherwise, of course, in those that are directly moral,
as the Good Samaritan; they are not metaphors to be translated, but
examples to be imitated.

The picture is obviously true to nature. When a man became aware that a
great treasure lay under ground at a certain spot, he concealed his
knowledge of the fact, and took measures to obtain possession of the
field. Believing that this hidden wealth was greater far than all that
he possessed in the world, or could ever hope to acquire by the ordinary
produce of his property, he sold all that he had without a grudge, in
order to make sure of the prize. The love of his own possessions,
whether hereditary or acquired, whether lands or money, was overbalanced
and so destroyed by the estimate which he had formed of the hidden
treasure. The new and stronger affection neutralized and blotted out all
previous predilections for what was his own. He sold all that he had,
and bought the field. The turning-point is here; and here, accordingly,
the story is abruptly broken off. There is not a word regarding the
subsequent steps of the important and critical transaction. How much he
gained by his bargain; whether the validity of the purchase was disputed
in a court of justice by the former proprietor, on the ground of a
concealment of facts by the buyer;--these and all similar points are
designedly veiled off. If they had been introduced, they would have
served only to lead the investigator into a wrong track, and the meaning
of the Master would thereby have been lost. The story advances in broad
and manifest accordance with nature, both in its main line and in its
subordinate accessories, until it has reached and passed the point which
marked its goal: then the curtain suddenly drops, resolutely concealing
all the rest, and so compelling the reader to fix his regard on the
great essential lesson, instead of dissipating his energies on a
multitude of interesting but unnecessary speculations.

Such is the material framework which sustains the spiritual truth,--such
the trellis which bears up the fruitful vine: having first gone round it
to survey its construction and its form, we now approach it to gather
for our own use the ripe fruit that hangs within reach on every side.

1. There is a treasure, placed within our reach in this, world, rich
beyond all comparison or conception,--a treasure incorruptible and
undefiled and unfading. "God is love,"--behold the f